


Old Friends, New Lovers

by sammysoupp



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Bad Ass Reader, Daryl Dixon Needs a Hug, Daryl Dixon Smut, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, New Lovers, Old Friends, Porn With Plot, Prison (Walking Dead), Protective Daryl Dixon, Reader is a bad ass, Reunion, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:15:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24974446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sammysoupp/pseuds/sammysoupp
Summary: (Y/N) has been on her own for months, having survived plenty of close calls, crappy situations, and even crappier people. Until one day Rick, Glenn, and Carl find her and invite her to join their group back at the prison. When she arrives she is greeted by a familiar face from her past. Will an old flame suddenly be reignited? Will (Y/N) fit in with the new group, and can she prove herself to them? (Starting in Prison Era, pre-Governor, going up until most recent season).
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Reader, Daryl Dixon/You
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	1. Familiar Faces

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fanfiction I've written/posted in years. I just recently got caught up on The Walking Dead, and have been reading countless Daryl Dixon/Reader fics and was inspired to write one of my own. I truly hope you enjoy it, and will try to keep this as updated as frequently as possible :)

The smell of coffee came wafting into the street, through your favorite bakery’s open door. You smiled and made your way inside. As you walked through the doorway you noticed bits of broken glass on the floor. “What the hell happened here?” you huffed, looking around the store. Shrugging your shoulders, “Damn kids again probably,” you sighed, walking up to the counter. You looked up at menu, fully knowing you were going to get your usual as always. Letting out a small sigh, you looked around the store again. Noticing a few overturned tables, you raised an eyebrow. “Geez, this place is really starting to go downhill.” 

You turned your attention back to the front counter, “Hello?” Silence filled the bakery. You turned your gaze to the service bell sitting on the counter, and gently tapped it. The small chime echoed off the walls, which you now noticed were covered in dust and grime. Has this place always been so dirty? You thought to yourself and leaned over the counter trying to see if anyone was in the back kitchen. “Hey anyone back there? Just trying to get my morning coffee.” you called out. 

The sound of shuffling came from the back and you looked up to see one of the workers slowly walking through the double doors, or really limping you noticed. “Hey, sorry to rush you man, just trying to get to work on time, for once.” you chuckled, watching as the worker made his way to you, head down. “Alright, not much of a talker. I get it, it’s early. I’ll just have one large black coffee then.” The barista groaned and turned away from you, causing you to roll your eyes. This place really has gone downhill, you thought quietly. You brought your gaze back to the guy and noticed the back of his uniform was torn in a few places, exposing his back. Looking a little closer you saw the guy’s skin was covered in blood, scratches, and sores. “Holy shit dude are you okay?” slight disgust tinging your tone. 

The barista turned around and held out a cup to you, you walked forward not quite sure if you should take it or not. As you reached for the cup, the barista lunged forward and grabbed your wrist. You struggled backward, trying to free yourself from his grip. “Hey man fuck off! Let go of me!” You screamed and looked back up at the guy. Your eyes widened as you stared at the lifeless, decaying husk of the former barista. Blood flowing from his broken jaw. You reached to your hip and grabbed your brass knuckled dagger and quickly plunged it into the guys skull, he immediately went limp over the counter. “Holy fucking shit. Holy shit I just killed this guy.” you gasped out, heart pounding erratically in your chest. You ripped your dagger out of his skull and slipped it back into its holster. “I’ve got to get out here fast!” You dropped your coffee and watched as blood splashed against the broken tile. “What the hell is going on?!” Suddenly the front door’s bell rang out.

Your eyes snapped open to the sound of metal cans clanging, you quickly readjusted your eyes to the morning light that came through the convenience stores’ windows you decided to stay the night in. You sighed, slowly rubbing your eyes, “Just another nightmare.” The sound of metal cans hitting each other caused you to flinch. “Well, back to the real nightmare I suppose.” You sat up and began packing your things away into your backpack. Then you heard people talking just outside the store, “Ah shit” you whispered, frantically packing up the last of your belongings. You pulled the bandana around your neck up over your mouth and nose, and silently slipped both your daggers out from their holsters on your hips. You crawled your way behind one of the display booths and prayed these people would just pass by. 

“Hey guys, want to check out this convenience store? Maybe it hasn’t been completely picked through yet.” a voice called out.

‘Shit’ you cursed to yourself.

The shuffling of a few pairs of shoes made their way into the store. You counted at least three different pairs of shoes, all stepping over the string of cans you had set up at the front door. “Hello?” a younger voice called out. “Carl! We don’t know if whoever set these up is still here, be quiet and stay behind me.” a gruffer voice angrily whispered to whoever this Carl person was. “But what if it’s someone who needs help dad?” Carl whispered back. 

‘Dad? These people can’t be that bad if they have a kid with them, right?’ you leaned closer to the display, trying to get a better look at the group, tightening the grip on your daggers. 

“If there is anyone in here, we don’t mean to disturb you and we don’t want any trouble. Just looking for more supplies for our group.” a voice you hadn’t heard yet called out. Should you show yourself? Maybe these people really are just trying to help other survivors out. You snapped out of your thoughts as the sound of boots hitting the tiled floor came closer to you. You began to back up but hit the shelf behind you, causing a few empty cans to come tumbling off the shelves and onto the floor. You didn’t have time to think before the display you were previously hiding behind was thrown to the side, crashing into the wall. You stood up and readied your daggers in front of you, you weren’t going down without a fight. You raised your eyes to find yourself looking down the barrel of a revolver, your gaze wandered up to its owner. You took in the rough looking man in front of you, he was obviously very well trained with guns, judging from his stance and unwavering form. You then turned your sights to the kid named Carl, he couldn’t be more than 14, and currently had his hand resting on the revolver on his hip. Then your eyes flicked over to the other man, an Asian guy maybe in his early 30’s, currently holding his hunting knife out towards you. 

“Hey why don’t you put those down and we talk, okay? We don’t mean you any harm.” the revolver wielding guy said, not lowering his gun that was fixed on your forehead. You just stared frantically between the three men, not letting your guard down. How the hell were you going to get out of this? “Is it just you here? Do you have a group somewhere?” the Asian man asked you, slightly lowering his knife. All you could do was shake your head ‘no’, as you still tried to find a way out of this mess. “Are you hurt at all?” Carl asked sincerely, taking a small step forward. “Carl! I told you to stay behind me!” “Rick she’s obviously scared and alone. I promise you we aren’t going to hurt you.” the Asian man looked over at you with a small smile. You relaxed a bit, and started to lower your weapons, you looked back to the man named Rick and he nodded. You took a deep breath and slid your daggers back into their holsters. 

“Sorry, just unsure of people now I suppose,” your voice slightly muffled by your bandana, “can never be too careful ya know?” 

“Hey we totally understand. My name is Glenn, what’s yours?” Glenn asked as he sheathed his knife as well. You looked over to Rick who still had his gun in his hand, but had it pointed towards the floor. 

You reached a hand up and slid your bandana off your face, “Name’s (Y/N), it’s great to meet somewhat friendly faces for a change.” you chuckled. Carl let out a small laugh too and glanced over to his dad. Rick still seemed unsure of you, but he held out his free hand, and you timidly took it in yours, exchanging a small shake. “So, you’re all by yourself here?” Rick asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion. 

“Been on my own for the most part since this hellish nightmare started.” You answered, gently gesturing your hand to the outside world. 

“For the most part? So, you were with a group, what happened?” Rick asked, not breaking his gaze from you. 

You let out a small sigh, “I was with my dad at the start of it all, but he was sick, not related to what these undead fuckers have” you winced at cursing in front of Carl, who just laughed and told you he had heard worse. “We found a group of people who were headed to Atlanta, we heard broadcasts that the city was safe. Boy was that complete crap, by the time our group got there, it was completely overrun. We all holed ourselves up in an old office building. Food started becoming scarce, pops’ health was getting worse, and our group was starting to become a lot more hostile toward each other.” You let out a shaky breath and looked away from the others, forcing yourself to remain calm. 

Rick took a step forward, holstering his gun, and placed a hand on your shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it right now. We’ve all lost people we cared about, we’ve all had to do things to protect ourselves, to survive.” Rick stated firmly. You sucked in a deep breath and looked up at the three men, grateful to not relive some of those memories right now. 

“My people, we have a place not too far from here. It has walls, fences, a roof. You obviously can take care of yourself, and we need people like that, would you want to come with us?” Rick asked, giving your shoulder a gentle reassuring squeeze. You looked up in shock, it wasn’t often you came across other people but when you did, they weren’t usually friendly like this. In fact, it had been the exact opposite since you started surviving on your own. The undead were at least predictable, people on the other hand were terrifyingly chaotic, it seemed the end of the world brought it out of most people. But maybe these people weren’t like most people. Maybe, there was still good humans left on this hellscape of a planet. 

“But you guys don’t even know me. Why offer to help me?” You could hear the fear in your voice, forcing you to stand up taller, you weren’t weak and you damn sure didn’t want to come across that way. 

“We’ve become pretty good judges of character. All of us have had our fair share of run ins with shitty people.” Glenn stated, smiling at you, as he offered you one of the water bottles from his bag. You graciously took it and thanked him, taking a big swig from it. You sighed in relief; it must have been awhile since you had fresh water.  
“If you want to come with us, I just need to ask you a few questions first.” Rick stated bluntly. 

“Sure, shoot!” You replied eagerly, taking another large gulp of water. 

“How many walkers have you killed?” Walkers? Huh so that’s what they call them, you usually stuck with undead fuckers. You raised an eyebrow to Rick, trying to see if he was serious or not. When you were met with silence from the others, you shrugged your shoulders “At this point? Geez probably pushing a hundred or more I would say.” You brought the water bottle back to your lips.

Rick just nodded, “How many people have you killed?” 

You stopped, stared wide eyed up at Rick and glanced over to the others, do you answer truthfully? You brought your stare back to Rick, who slightly raised one of his eyebrows. Sighing, you knew you had to be truthful here, “Five” you brought your gaze down to the floor in shame. 

“Why?”

“I had to.” You answered not looking up at the others. 

“Why?” Rick pushed the question again. 

You looked at him, holding your grief and anger back, you weren’t angry he was asking. You were angry you were ever forced into the position in the first place. “Two of them were people from my old group, they let the pressure get to them, started killing off other members, I had to defend myself. The other two were a couple of guys I ran across after I left my original group. They were really bad people, they would’ve hurt me, would’ve hurt others if I hadn’t done it.” 

“What about the last one?” You winced, hoping he wouldn’t have caught that you left one out. You stared into his eyes, tears threatening to spill from the corners of yours. “It...it was my…” Rick cut you off by putting a hand on your shoulder again, squeezing it a little more. “It’s okay. Thank you for being honest.” He smiled at you, the first smile you had seen from him. It made you feel secure, you took a deep breath and puffed your chest out. “So, did I pass initiation? You still want me to come with you guys?” You gave a weak smile in return. 

Rick continued to smile at you and nodded, “Grab your stuff, lets get you to your new home. Lots of people are going to be excited to have a new face around the prison.” That caused you to take a step back, “Prison?! You guys never mentioned a prison!” 

Carl and Glenn let out a laugh and walked towards you, “Sorry probably should’ve mentioned that. Place was overrun by walkers when we first got there. It took some time, but we’ve really been able to make it into a home. Place was stocked full of medical supplies, some food, and plenty of beds. Everyone has their own cells; uh I mean rooms.” Glenn chuckled as he picked up your backpack and started heading out of the store. 

“We’ve even been able to get gardens started, and there’s fresh water for showers!” Carl exclaimed and beamed up at you with glee. 

You stopped in your tracks. “Did you just say showers?” You stared at them awestruck. You couldn’t even remember the last time you had a proper shower. They both looked at you with huge smiles on their faces. “Didn’t even tell you the best part,” Glenn started with an amused look on his face, “there’s hot water too.” You could’ve melted right there, you held yourself back from hugging both of them out of pure joy. “Well what the hell are we still doing here?!” You beamed, earning a laugh from all three of them. They started walking towards their car when you stopped them. 

“Oh hey, wait just a second guys!” You turned around and headed back into the store. Shortly returning with a few boxes in your hands, all filled with canned foods and other supplies you were able to find. “It’s not much but I hope it helps, I’m a pretty damn good scavenger if I do say so myself, and a decent hunter. I’d love to be able to go on runs with you all in the future.” 

Rick looked at you with nothing but respect, smiling a full smile at you, as he took the boxes from you and put them in the trunk. “See, I told you we are good judges of character.” Glenn nudged his side. “Yeah, yeah I suppose we are. I think the others are really going to like her. Carl already seems to.” Rick said, as he and Glenn looked over at you, you were showing Carl your daggers and he was showing you his gun. Explaining it matched his dad’s and that before the world ended, he wanted to be a sheriff just like him.

“Come on you two let’s head back! (Y/N) has some people to meet and could probably use the rest.” Rick motioned to you two, as he hopped into the driver’s seat.

“And a hot shower, right (Y/N)?” Glenn teased. 

“Please and thank you!” You laughed, climbing into the back with Carl. 

The entirety of the drive was spent with all of you asking questions about each other lives prior to the dead walking. You asked all about the others, the prison, and how they came upon each other, which all three were more than happy to share. There was never an awkward pause in conversation, you felt happy, truly happy to be in good company. Happy to not be wandering around alone and on edge. You were nervous about meeting everyone though, what if the others didn’t feel the same about you. What if they didn’t want to add anyone else to the group. Carl sensed your nerves and did his best to make you feel at ease, this kid is really something else you thought. You couldn’t imagine having to be a kid through all of this. It was bad enough having to be an adult and live through it. 

Glenn told you of a man named Herschel, and his wife Maggie, and about the farm. He said Herschel would look at some of your injuries, even though you assured them it was nothing more than a few scratches and some bruises. But it would be nice to have a check-up. God, you were getting old, you laughed to yourself. 

About an hour and half of driving had gone by when you finally saw the prison coming up over the horizon. Your nerves were back, and you gulped as you approached the gate. “Hey, don’t be nervous” Carl said, and he took your hand in his, “I promise these are great people, they are going to love you.” You smiled at the boy and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze back. You watched as an older woman with short gray hair came and opened the gate, allowing the car to come through before closing it again quickly. You noticed a few walkers outside of the gate and made a mental note to offer to take them out later. You already felt like you were proving yourself to these three, but you needed to make sure the others knew you were strong, and more than willing to pull your weight. 

The car came to a stop in the prison yard and you all started to pile out of the car. A small group made their way over to you guys. Glenn walked over to a taller brunette woman and kissed her a few times, that must be Maggie you thought to yourself. “Who is this?” she asked hesitantly, as she peered over to you from behind Glenn. A few of the others had joined in, none of them seemed upset by you being there, just curious. 

“Everyone this is (Y/N). (Y/N), this is everyone.” Rick said with pride as he looked over at the group of people, he had been able to keep safe and provide for. He explained how they had found you, he allowed you to introduce yourself, let you explain your answers to Rick’s questions he had asked you earlier, and you made sure to tell them a thousand times how thankful you were for their help and hospitality. Everyone seemed to be happy with you being there, even if they were still a little unsure, you understood, you were still a little unsure yourself. 

You heard a door closing and looked up but couldn’t see where it had come from. “Hey man! Get over here, come meet the new girl!” Glenn turned, shouting to someone behind him. You squinted in the sun at someone making their way over to the group. You couldn’t really make out what they looked like through the sunlight and with the group in front of you. You saw brown shaggy hair and part of a vest. You gulped and looked nervously at Carl who gave you a reassuring smile. 

When you turned your attention back in front of you, your eyes widened, and your jaw almost dropped. 

“Holy shit.” You gasped out. Gaining everyone’s attention back to you. “Dixon? Is that really you?!” 

Everyone looked between you and Daryl, as you two stood staring at each other, both too shocked to say anything else. 

“(Y/N)?” Daryl finally asked with complete disbelief. 

Life at the prison was about to get way more interesting.


	2. It's a Date!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise the next few chapters will start pushing the story line along, just had to set up a basis for the reader's character/her relationship with Daryl. Hope you all like it :)

You had no idea how long you and Daryl had been staring at each other, it felt like the world had stopped. Your heart thumped wildly in your chest; you felt your palms getting sweaty. You couldn’t believe he was here, alive and well. A part of your past was staring you in the face with the same nervously excited expression on his own, and you couldn’t say anything besides “Holy shit” again. 

“You guys know each other? How? Why? This is so wonderful!” You snapped out of the daze you were in and turned your attention to a short blonde girl, who was happily looking between you and Daryl. You roamed your eyes over the rest of the group, all them had small smiles on their faces. You let out a nervous laugh, “Dixon and I grew up in the same small town, we use to be little hellions when we were younger.” You turned your attention back to Daryl and walked closer to him looking up into his eyes, memories of your childhood rushing back to you. You gave him a warm smile, and lightly punched his shoulder, “It’s really good to see you again Daryl, we got a lot to catch up on.”   
Daryl let a small smile touch his features, “Yeah, I guess we do” he replied, lightly punching your shoulder in return. 

“Well, we can all get to know each other and you two can catch up over dinner. Who’s hungry?” a woman standing next to Rick asked. That must be Lori, you thought as you smiled over at her, you took notice of her baby bump, and your heart sank a little. You couldn’t imagine having to raise a baby though all of this. But Lori must be ridiculously strong having made it this far while being pregnant. 

“Oh right! Dinner is actually on (Y/N) tonight!” Glenn exclaimed, as he rushed over to the trunk popping it open and taking out the boxes you gave them.   
“I hope you guys like Spam, tuna, and beans! That’s most of what’s in there.” You explained rubbing the back of your head sheepishly. “There’s some medical supplies in here as well!” You grabbed one of the boxes and walked over to Herschel, “I heard you might need these.” 

Herschel took the box from you and opened it, he looked over the various medicines, bandages, and antiseptics you were able to grab on your journey. He looked back at you and gave you a warm smile, “These are greatly appreciated, thank you (Y/N). Spam is one of my favorites by the way.” He laughed and began walking back inside. The others began following his lead, leaving you and Daryl out in the courtyard. 

“I can’t believe ya really here (Y/N)” Daryl said barely loud enough for you to hear, causing you to turn and smile back at him. 

“Daryl, you wound me” you threw your hand over your chest in mock pain, you let you a small chuckle, “Come on, you know I’m a fighter. No amount of undead bastards can take ya girl out.” You puffed your chest out and flexed one of your arm muscles at him. 

Daryl huffed out a laugh and rolled his eyes, “Take it easy there champ.” He put his hand on your flexed arm and lowered it, causing your face to heat up slightly at his touch. “Ya haven’t changed at all (Y/N).” Daryl stared down at you; amusement written all over his face.

“You’ve definitely gotten taller, and your hair is more of a mess than I remember.” You coyly responded, earning another eyeroll from Daryl, you stepped a little closer to him. You returned his stare and smiled brightly up at him, “It really is good to see you again Daryl. These people seem wonderful too.” 

Daryl shrugged, “Eh there alright I guess.” 

“Classic Dixon.” You roll your eyes and chuckled up at him. 

“Come on guys dinner is almost ready!” Carl waved at you two from the prison’s stairwell. 

You sat in the prison’s mess hall that the group had converted into a kitchen and laundry area, happily chatting, and getting to know the others. You looked around at everyone’s faces as they ate, all of them smiling, even though they all looked tired and stressed beyond belief. They all seemed content, like a real family sitting down to a meal together. You could really see yourself becoming a part of that family, helping provide and protect these people. The thought of not being alone anymore was enough to bring tears to your eyes. Happy tears for once. You quickly wiped them away when Rick sat down beside you. 

“Thank you again (Y/N). I can’t say that enough. It’s nice to know our meals are covered for another week.” Rick smiled keeping his attention on the rest of the group.

You sat your plate and utensils down on steps you were sitting on, “There’s no need to thank me. Just doing the right thing. Besides, I should be the one thanking you. If it wasn’t for you, your son, and Glenn I’d still be roaming the streets, looking for the next place to hide in.” 

“So, you thinking about staying with us a little longer?” Rick asked and turned his head, so he was facing you. 

“If you’ll have me, I won’t fail you Rick, or your family.” You nodded proudly up to him. Rick patted your back and took his leave to go sit with his family. You smiled over at them, some people let the pressures of the world wear them down, but these people found strength in each other. You turned your gaze over to Daryl and smiled when you saw him quickly turn his attention back to his food, the corners of his mouth slightly turned up into a small smile. A hint of red graced your cheeks, when you started to hear Beth sing an old song, one you’re sure you heard before, but couldn’t put a name to it. Music was definitely something you missed from the old world; you couldn’t remember the last time you listened to actual music. You didn’t even realize you started nodding off until you felt a hand slightly shake your shoulder. 

“Hey,” you grinned sleepily up at Daryl who was smiling timidly down at you, “I guess I’m more exhausted than I realized.” He helped you stand up from where you were leaning against the stairs. 

“I can show ya to ya room if ya want.” Daryl said making his way to the cell block. 

“Actually, do you mind showing me the showers first. Been looking forward to one all day honestly. I’m filthy.” You laughed wiping some dirt off your face. You followed Daryl down a few of the prison’s corridors in comfortable silence, when you reached the bathrooms you practically ran inside slinging off your jacket. 

“Well I’ll leave ya to it, try to go easy with the hot water. We have to ration it.” Daryl stood in the center of the bathroom awkwardly, not making any move to leave.

“You just gonna stand there or are you waiting for and invitation Dixon?” You smirked, slowly undoing your belt, and let it drop to the floor with a clang. 

Daryl snapped his eyes back up to you, his face turning bright red. “Shut up (Y/N), I’m going, I’m going.” You laughed over at him, he was always so easy to fluster. “Holler if ya need anything.” He said before slipping out of the bathroom.

“Suit yourself more hot water for me then!” You called out to him. You began undressing in front of one of the full-length mirrors, rubbing your hands over some bruises and scratches that littered different parts of your body. “Guess I’m a little more banged up than I thought.” You took in your form, eyes roaming over your body from head to toe. You turned around and looked back at your ass in the mirror, reaching down and gripping both cheeks in your hands and lifting it up and down and few times. “Definitely need to get some workouts in again, can’t lose my best asset even if the world has gone to shit.” You chuckled and walked over to one of the shower stalls near the back of the bathroom. You turned the shower on and waited for the water to heat up. 

Once the temperature was to your liking you stepped under the waterfall and practically moaned from the feeling of it pelting your skin. “Holy crap” you breathed out, “Thank you God or whoever the hell is out there.” You began lathering soap all over your body, watching as the dirt and grime slid off your body and down the drain. You worked a handful of shampoo through your hair and moaned with pleasure. Slowly letting your hand run down your abdomen and down to your core, the hot water making you feel alive again. Your mind started drifting to Daryl, god he looks so good now, so rugged, and tough. You always thought he looked good though, as you slid your fingers between your thighs and started rubbing delicate circles up and down your now dripping sex. You moaned softly as memories from your teenage years came to the forefront of your mind, all those late nights you spent with Daryl, talking about everything and anything all at once. Even if you were the one doing most of the talking. All those times you two had awkwardly flirted with each other, staying up way pass curfew to hang out down by the river near your houses, the one kiss you guys had shared after stealing and drinking an entire bottle of your mom’s “good wine”. You laughed quietly remembering the tongue lashing you received the next day from her. 

You would do it all again and way more if you could. I’m sure he doesn’t even remember that we kissed, that was so long ago now, and we were both so drunk you thought to yourself with a sad smile. You felt the water’s temperature start to drop and you quickly rinsed the rest of the shampoo out of your hair and turned the shower off. You jumped when you heard the door to the bathroom close, you peaked your head out around the stall, “Hello? Sorry if I was in here too long, got caught up in the hot water!” You called out. When you were met with silence you shrugged your shoulders and quickly wrapped a towel around yourself. You grabbed your pile of dirty clothes and made your way down the corridors and back to the mess hall. 

“Hey! Feel better?” Carol called to you; she was sitting by a wash bucket finishing up some of the group’s laundry.

“God yes! I think that’s something I definitely took for granted, a nice hot shower.” You chuckled as you made your way over to her.

“Here, I’ll take those.” She motioned to the clothes in your hands with a smile. “I hope you don’t mind I grabbed your clothes from your backpack and washed those too. They are hanging up to dry now. I left some clean ones on your bed.” Carol started scrubbing your clothes in the wash bucket. 

“Thank you so much Carol, you guys really know how to make someone feel welcomed here.” You still couldn’t believe people like this really existed in this new world.   
“Not a problem at all, thank you again for the food and supplies! You should get some rest, if you think you took a hot shower for granted, wait until you sleep in a real bed. Or I guess as real of a bed as a prison cot can be.” She chuckled not looking up from your clothes. 

You turned to walk into the cell block and stopped, and as if Carol read your mind, “Last cell on the left.” She smiled to you. “Goodnight (Y/N)!” 

“Goodnight Carol, thanks again!” You made your way through the cell block. You found your cell and walked in, it wasn’t by any means a big room, but it had a bed, desk, a chair, and a lamp, and that was good enough for you. You dropped your towel and shivered at how cold it was in the prison. You slipped on the fresh set of panties, leggings, tank top and socks Carol had left for you and laid down on your bed sighing with relief at how good the old mattress felt. Anything beat sleeping on tile or old carpet. You raised your head when you heard a knock on the bars to your cell and were greeted with Daryl hovering just outside of the doorway.

“Just wanted to make sure ya found everything okay.” He said, taking in your now clean appearance. 

You sat up in bed and smiled at him, his breathing hitched at seeing you flash your perfect smile at him again. He was shocked when he saw you earlier for the first time in years, he almost didn’t recognize you with all of the dirt, dried blood, and other grimy substances covering your features. But the minute you smiled at him, he was taken back to his teenage years. He never thought he would see that smile again, or hear your laugh, it was like his brain had gone into sensory overload. 

“Yup I’m all settled in! Thanks for checking on me Daryl.” You smiled warmly over to him and he felt like his heart would stop right there. 

“Yeah no problem.” He grunted out and was about to turn to leave when he stopped himself, “Hey I have guard duty tomorrow night, would ya like to join me? Figured we could catch up ya know?” He asked trying to sound like he didn’t care, as he shrugged his shoulders.

You giggled, typical Dixon, you thought to yourself. “I’d love to!” you replied eagerly, he looked back at you and smiled. You stared at each for a moment, and you decided to test the waters, “Should I grab a bottle of wine?” You smirked and raised an eyebrow up at him. Would he even remember, your heart beating wildly in your chest as you watched his eyes narrow at you before he smirked back. 

“Yeah that’d be fun. G’night (Y/N), see ya tomorrow.” He said softly before turning around and heading back to his room. 

You laid back down with a huge smile plastered on your face, maybe he does remember, you thought happily to yourself. You snuggled yourself under the blankets and slowly started to drift off, this had become easily one of the best days of your life since the apocalypse had started. 

“You really think this little paradise of yours is going to last girly?” you heard a low voice call to you from the other side of your cell. You grabbed one of your daggers you left attached to your hip and slowly opened your eyes. You were greeted by a man you recognized but couldn’t put a name to, dried blood was on the side of his temple running down his face, his hands were covered in the same blood. 

“Who the hell are you?” you growled out, slightly tensing, and gripping your dagger harder as he moved the chair he was sitting in closer to your bed. 

“What? You don’t remember me? Because I sure do remember you.” the man said, licking his lips as he leaned closer to you. 

“Why the hell should I remember you?” You sat up and scooted back towards the wall, your hand never leaving your hip, you silently started to detach your dagger. 

“Ah, ah, ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you sweet thing.” Suddenly the man pulled out a pistol and raised it to your forehead. “You think you can just kill a guy and he’ll disappear like that.” He glared at you, snapped his fingers at the last part. “No, that kind of thing sticks with you darling. Just like the things I did to you.” He leaned forward a little more, his face now fully revealed in the moonlight that shone though the prison’s windows. You gasped, and your eyes widened. You shook your head a few times, “No this isn’t real, I’m just having a nightmare. I killed you and your scumbag friend.” 

“The things we did to you, what we wanted to do to you were real though.” He climbed his way onto the bed, not lowering his pistol from your head, as he slowly reached a hand up and started tracing your collar bone. His eyes never leaving yours. Your breathing sped up as you felt him wrap his bloody hand around your throat, squeezing slightly. “Nah I’ll be with you forever now. And no amount of fences or walls will change that.” He put more pressure on your throat and you were struggling to breathe. You looked over at the sick smile on his face as he continued to choke you, your eyes slowly started to close from the lack of oxygen. 

You sat up in bed with a start, gasping as you put your hand to your throat, you let out a sigh and fell back onto the bed. “Just another bad dream, just another bad dream.” You repeated to yourself, rubbing your eyes. You looked out your cell to one of the windows, it was barely dawn. “Well definitely not going back to sleep now”, you stood from your bed and stretched. Listening to your joints pop and crack, your muscles already feeling better after sleeping in a real bed for a change. You quickly slipped your boots on, grabbed your other dagger, and made your way down the cell block. It didn’t seem like anyone was up yet, you quietly made your way into the mess hall. You grabbed your now clean clothes and bandana off the line and slipped your long-sleeved flannel shirt and fingerless leather gloves on. You made your way out to the yard and saw Glenn sitting by the fence to the courtyard. You walked up to him tying your bandana around your neck. 

“Good morning Glenn.” You said slightly startling him, “Oh sorry! Thought you heard me walk out.”

“No, no you’re good. Got caught up in my own thoughts! How’d you sleep? Feeling better?” He turned and smiled at you. 

“Like a brand-new lady, seriously thank you again for bringing me back here with you guys. I can’t seem to stop saying thank you to everyone.” You laughed and looked out into the yard at the group of walkers that were roaming around aimlessly outside of the fence. 

“What are you doing up so early?” You asked not turning your attention away from the walkers. 

“Eh guard duty, I hate these early morning shifts. But someone’s got to keep an eye on those things.” He gestured to the walkers, a few more stumbling out of from the tree line. “What about you? Maggie and I figured you’d be passed out most of the morning.”

“Eh weird dreams.” You said quickly, not really wanting to go into detail about them. “We’re going to have to get rid of them eventually, all their moaning is going to attract more of them.” You looked over to a few that were starting to pile up on the fence. 

“Well you up for a little head bashing this early in the morning?” Glenn quirked an eyebrow up to you. 

“Thought you never ask! If you’ll take care of the ones crowding the fence, I’ll go out there and lure some of the others away.” You began taking your daggers out, looping your fingers through the knuckled grips on them. 

“You sure? Don’t want you to think I’m doubting you, but we definitely don’t want you getting bit so soon after you got here.” Glenn asked, you could hear the worry in his voice.   
“Don’t worry about me, you just focus on those turds leaning on the fence. I got this!” You replied reassuringly, giving him a thumbs up. 

You and Glenn made your way down to the main fence, he quickly opened the gate to let you out before closing it again. “Just yell if you need me, I’ll come running out there.”   
You nodded and moved your bandana up over your mouth and nose before stalking your way around a few of the walkers. You took a deep breath and yelled out to them, “Okay you ugly ass turds come and get me! Fresh meat over here!” Three of them turned, and slowly started making their way over to you. You braced your footing in the damp morning ground and readied your daggers in front of you. When the first walker was in arms reach of you, you quickly dodged under its outstretched limbs and circled behind it, quickly plunging your dagger into its skull before ripping it back out again. Its body fell to the ground, officially dead, you smiled under your bandana and prepared yourself for the next two.

The second walker stumbled forward, and you jumped back as it fell to the ground on its face. “Aw someone’s got to work on their balance a little more.” The third stomped its way to you, you kicked your foot up into its chin as it doubled over onto its back, it began flailing like a turtle. Focusing on the second one you plunged your dagger into its head and did the same with the third. You steadied your breathing as four more turned their attention away from Glenn, who was on the other side of the fence stabbing at walkers through the chain link with a homemade spear. 

“How are you holding up out there (Y/N)?” Glenn shouted to you, still focusing on the small group reaching through the fence at him. 

“Never been better dude! Love the sound of walkers biting the dust in the morning!” You laughed as you sank your blade into another walker’s head, watching it fall to the ground with a satisfying thud. 

You continued dodging, weaving, and killing walkers when you looked up towards the courtyard after successfully killing another walker, you noticed the group was staring down at you and Glenn. Keeping watchful but amused eyes on you two. You saw Rick and Daryl standing beside each other and you couldn’t help yourself from smiling at the thought of Daryl seeing how strong you had become. 

“She sure is something else, huh?” Rick chuckled over to Daryl, looking at him with amused eyes as Daryl couldn’t stop watching you with a stoic but worried expression on his face. “Was she like this when you knew her before?”

Daryl huffed but grinned thinking back on the times he had pulled you off more than one person for looking at you, him or your friends the wrong way or for saying some dumb shit to you guys. “She’s always been a scrappy one that’s for sure. Didn’t know she had this kinda fight in her though.” His eyes lit up watching you move quickly behind another walker, sweeping its legs out from under it and stabbing it in its temple.

Rick looked over at the man he called his brother and smiled a knowing smile to himself. “She sure is something else, and not bad to look at either right Daryl?” Rick nudged his side. 

“Yeah you can say that again.” Daryl said before he could stop himself. “Wait. That’s not what I meant!” He looked over at Rick, who was now laughing a full hearty laugh, Daryl just stared at him with a wide-eyed expression on his face, ears turning slightly red. 

“(Y/N)! Look out! Behind you!” Carl yelled out, clutching at the courtyard’s gate. 

Daryl and Rick snapped their attention back down to you, just as a walker had grabbed you from behind. Before anyone could react, Daryl pulled off his crossbow and flung open the courtyard’s gate and was sprinting down to the main fence, Rick not far behind him. Just as he was about to open the gate, he watched as you punched your brass knuckle up into its jaw and flung the creature over your shoulder causing it to land on it’s back with a hard smack. Without missing a beat, you raised your dagger over your head and slammed it into the walker’s eye. You yanked your dagger out of its socket and looked up to see Daryl running towards you through the open gate. He reached you and instantly pulled you into a hug. You froze for a second at the sudden contact, you could hear the others cheering at your victory in the distance. You quickly wrapped your arms around Daryl and rubbed his back reassuringly, breathing in his scent, and sighing to yourself. 

Daryl was the first to pull away from the hug and he placed his hands on your shoulders, scanning you up and down looking for any bite marks or injuries. You smirked up at him, “See? I told ya, no amount of undead bastards can take ya girl out!” You beamed up at him flexing your arm muscle. 

Daryl let out a small laugh, and lightly punched your shoulder, “Don’t scare me like that (Y/L/N).”

“Ah, come on Dixon, you think I’m going to go get myself bit before our date tonight?” You wiggled your eyebrows at him, causing him to blush and turn back towards the prison.   
“Is that what we’re calling it?” He smirked, still blushing, and looking at you from the corner of his eye. 

“We can call it whatever you want Dixon.” You giggled and nudged his shoulder, “I definitely need a drink though after a workout like that.” 

You two made your way back through the gate and closed it, you turned to Glenn who had just pulled his spear out of the last walker and he made his way back up the hill with you guys. 

“That was a hell of a show you put on out there (Y/N).” Rick said as he proudly patted your back, joining the three of you on the way back up to the others. “Next time ask one of us to come with you, that goes for you too Glenn.” Rick stated looking over at Glenn who rubbed the back of his head and laughed, “No problem boss man!” 

You walked back through the courtyard gates and Carl immediately ran up to you and hugged you, “That was amazing! You’re such bad ass (Y/N)!” 

“Language!” You and Lori said at the same time, making the others laugh. You looked down at Carl and gave him a light hug back and put a hand on his head to lightly tousle his hair. He laughed up at you and let you go. 

“Alright guys come on back inside and get some breakfast.” Carol called to everyone from the stairwell, “Then we got some chores to do!” An audible groan left Carl and Beth as they hurriedly walked back inside. 

“Thanks again for your help this morning (Y/N), we shouldn’t have to do another clear out for the next few days.” Maggie smiled at you, as her and Glenn walked towards you. “It’s the most peaceful the outside of the fences has looked in weeks, I mean, if you don’t look too closely at all the corpses.” Glenn chuckled linking his arm with Maggie’s. 

“Not a problem at all guys! Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help!”

“Actually, I was going to go out this afternoon and gather some more berries and herbs for dad. I’d love to have you with me in case I need some backup.” Maggie said with a smile, “It’ll give us a chance to get to know each other better too.” 

“Yeah, I’d really like that. Just come find me when you’re ready to go!” You replied enthusiastically. 

You watched as the rest of the group made their way inside and grinned proudly to yourself. 

“Looks like you’re really makin’ a good first impression with the group.” Daryl walked up beside you and nudged your side, causing you to giggle. “Forgot you’re ticklish, better keep that in mind.” Daryl winked at you. 

“Pfft shut it Dixon.” You shoved him playfully. “Just trying to prove I can take care of myself, and you.” Your eyes widened at your slip up, “I mean all of you, not just you, I mean you too, but you know what I mean.” You chuckled nervously. Daryl couldn’t help but light up at that, his heart fluttering slightly. God she is so stupidly cute, how can someone just kill a shit ton of walkers and be this nervous to talk him at the same time. 

“Well I better get going, I’m gonna go huntin’ for a few hours, see if I can bring back a real meal for everyone.” Daryl said tightening his grip on his crossbow. 

“What you don’t like the Spam, tuna, and beans I brought Daryl?” You pouted, putting on your best puppy dog eyes and giggled. Daryl could’ve melted, he stood up taller and resisted every urge to lean down and kiss you right then and there. 

“Thought ya might want something more than beans for our date tonight.” He smirked down at you, earning a blush and another nervous laugh from you. “That’s what we’re calling it, right?” He wiggled his eyebrows at you the same way you had earlier. 

“Oh, stop teasing me Dixon.” You playfully pushed him again and started making your way back to the stairwell. “I’ll see you later?” You looked over your shoulder, purposefully looking Daryl up and down. 

“Wouldn’t miss it.” He gave you one last smirk and started making his down to the main gate. 

God tonight couldn’t get here fast enough you gleefully thought to yourself as you made your way back inside.


	3. The Good, The Bad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, sorry for the delay in updates! Work has been a little hectic this past week. I've changed the timeline of the groups' first days in the prison a little bit to fit the reader into the story. I'll have at least two new chapters to you all by Sunday. Thank you to those who have left kudos so far, I'm glad you're enjoying it! :)

“Hey (Y/N)! You ready to go?” Maggie popped her head into your cell, giving you a warm smile, as she watched you writing in a journal you had kept from your old life. “Whatcha’ writing?” 

“Oh, nothing important. I just like to check in with myself sometimes. Write down the good, the bad, and the ugly. It’s a nice reminder of all the things I’ve been through so far, keeps me grounded I suppose.” You finished your last sentence, smiled, and quickly tucked your journal back into your desk. 

“It’s hard to stay grounded when the ground constantly feels like it’s being ripped out from under you though.” Maggie said absentmindedly as she looked around your room, “We need to get you some flowers or something, it’s so dreary in here.” You couldn’t help the chuckle that left you. 

“Well it is a prison Maggie.” You quirked your eyebrow up to her and she returned your laughter with her own. “Come on, let’s getting going.” You grabbed your daggers and bandana and followed her out of the prison. It was eerily quiet outside, without the constant moans and groans from the dead. It’s strange how unsettling silence had become to you now; you use to welcome a little peace and quiet. Now it just set you on edge. Maggie took in a deep breath beside you and smiled up at the sun. 

“It’s nice to be able to breathe a little easier now that walkers are cleared out. It’s feels good not to be so tense for a little bit.” She sighed, still letting the sun’s rays hit her features.

“Well don’t get too relaxed.” You replied opening the main gate for you two, taking one of your daggers out and gripping it loosely. 

“That’s why I have you here.” Maggie nudged your side, causing you to giggle over at her. 

You two fell into a comfortable silence as you made your way through the tree line, constantly keeping an ear out for any danger lurking around the corner. Every snap of a twig, rustle of a leaf, or bird flying over head had you flinching. You usually didn’t let yourself be out in the open this long. Preferring to stay out of sight, laying low, only coming out when you absolutely had to. Your mind wandered to the last time you let yourself stay out in broad daylight, you thought it was just going to be another quick supply run. In and out of the store, that’s what you had said to yourself repeatedly. 

You couldn’t have had any idea of the walkers corralled in the back-storage room, no idea that there was at least 20 sets of snapping jaws and gnashing teeth just waiting to rip into your flesh. You felt foolish to have gotten yourself in that mess in the first place, you thought maybe the storage room’s door was boarded up so that other people wouldn’t get to the hidden riches behind it. You didn’t even stop to consider another group had boarded it up to keep other survivors safe. When the dead had started stumbling out towards you all at once, you let a scream rip through you as you ran through the aisles back to the front of the store. Looking back over your shoulder to check on the distance between yourself and the walkers had been your downfall that day, you had tripped over a discarded box and landed hard on your knee. Limping as quickly as you could you, you slammed your way out of the grocery stores front doors. You knew you weren’t going to be able to outrun this hoard, not with the way your knee was screaming at you in that moment. So, you barricaded the front doors, planning on letting them out one at a time. You had come all this way for supplies, you sure as hell weren’t just going to leave empty handed. 

Your plan was going well at first, one at a time you let those undead bastards out, the moment they stepped foot out of the store you kicked them forward with your good leg, and you barricaded the doors again. You’d then turn around and plunge your dagger into their skulls. Rinse and repeat. Until two walkers forced themselves out the door, ruining your plan and causing you to tumble to the ground. Hurriedly scrambling away from the small group falling out of the store. You tried to stand but immediately found yourself falling back to the pavement. “Fuck me. Fucking hell (Y/N), come on!” You cursed wildly to yourself, grabbing both your daggers and slashing in front of you in a frenzy. 

Just as two walkers had thrown themselves at your feet and started clawing at your boots, gunshots rang out, quickly taking out the remaining undead. Your eyes were wide as you frantically searched the area for where the gunfire had come from. Your eyes landed on two figures making their way towards you, weapons still drawn in front of them, pointed directly at you. As they drew closer, you had tried to stand again but your leg crumpled under you causing you to kneel, gasping you held your daggers in front of you. Your knuckles turning white from the sheer force you had on the handles.

“Well, what do we have here?” A man with short black hair and smug grin on his face had said.

“Looks like we got us one hell of a fighter here, Cane.” Another man with a sorry excuse for a mustache had replied, he holstered his gun and smiled over at you. 

“I reckon you’re right about that Miguel. What exactly was your plan here Miss…?” this Cane person had asked, holding out a hand to you. You looked from his hand to him, he was smiling at you and it seemed genuine, but there was something about him that unsettled you. You shrugged the feeling off and took the man’s hand, “(Y/N)” you nodded as he easily helped you up onto your feet. 

Miguel had moved around to the other side of you and wrapped his arm around your waist to support you. You were being held up between the two men, feeling incredibly vulnerable in that moment, but desperately wanting to believe there were still honest to goodness helpful people in this new world. 

“Well Miss (Y/N), you are certainly a sight for sore eyes.” Cane had mused, looking down at you as he and Miguel helped lead you to their truck. You could feel your face growing warm because of his compliment, but you knew better than to be naïve these days. Or at least you kept telling yourself that. “Now, let’s get you back to camp, and we will get you patched up huh?” 

How you wish you would’ve rejected their help, or at the very least had let their group patch you up and then high tailed it out of there. A shiver ran through you as you came back to reality, you looked over to Maggie who was giving you a patient smile. “I’m sorry I think I got caught up in my thoughts for a second there, what did you say?” 

Maggie gave a light laugh in return and bent down by a bush and started picking off various berries and leaves. “You’re alright, I find myself doing that fairly often now. Especially after the farm fell.” You could hear a twinge of sadness coming into her voice and sat down next to her, keeping and eye on your surroundings, “Glenn told me about what happened, I’m so sorry Maggie. I know how hard it is to lose your home to this. You’re so lucky to have your dad and sister though, and Glenn of course.” Maggie perked up and looked at you at this, you gave her a slight nod and she returned it. 

“Glenn really has helped me so much through all of this, he’s been my rock. I know I can always count on him to make me laugh, even when I don’t want to.” She happily stated, not looking away from the berry bushes. “It’s important to have people like that in your life. Is that what Daryl is to you (Y/N)?” You looked at her with wide eyes and started laughing nervously, causing her smirk to grow wider at you.

“What?! Dixon? Nah, we’re just old friends.” You quickly said, rubbing the back of your neck uncomfortably. “We’ve known each other since middle school.” 

“Just friends?” Maggie quirked an eyebrow at you. 

You sighed, “Just friends.”

“You seem a little disappointed by that (Y/N), something you’d like to share?” Maggie now had her full attention on you. Arms propped up on her knees, her hands cradling her face, as if she were a little kid who just sat down for story time. You laughed at her demeanor and began telling her bits and pieces of yours and Daryl’s history. “We didn’t really even start hanging out until high school, but for awhile there we were inseparable. We had a small group of friends who were always together, and it didn’t matter how different we all were, we all just somehow meshed. We were all the black sheep in our families, but we were good kids. We tried our best in school, tried to stay out of fights when we could, but still snuck out and broke curfew. Ya know, normal teenage things.” You happily recounted memories to Maggie, who was just as eager and happy to listen to all of it. 

“Then we all started applying for colleges, well except Daryl, said he didn’t care about school and was going to become a mechanic instead. We were so encouraging of him, that was until teachers, other students, and some of our parents told us to steer clear of Daryl.” You frowned as you started remembering the moment yours and Daryl’s friendship started drifting apart. 

“Why?” Maggie leaned in closer to you, completely wrapped up in your memories with you. 

“Merle Dixon, that’s why. Not sure if you ever met him but be very thankful if you didn’t. Real piece of shit that one. He had always been trouble, even when Daryl and I were younger, getting the cops called on him for doing stupid shit on multiple occasions. In and out of juvey constantly, then in and out of prison when he aged out.” You let out another long sigh and rubbed your temples. “Then he started getting Daryl involved. We tried to help him any way we could, make him see how much potential he had, that he was better than his brother. But then Daryl started becoming more distant and when he wasn’t being distant, Merle was always by his side. Eventually the others kind of just gave up on him, taking the advice of others and just abandoned him.” 

“But, you didn’t do that, did you (Y/N)?” Maggie smiled a hopeful smile at you. 

Another sigh escaped your lips, “In a way, I kind of did. Our friendship started fading more as my senior year went on, Daryl dropped out and I was lucky if I saw him once every two weeks. Eventually I turned my attention to my schoolwork, and when I got accepted into my dream school, I left without barely a word to him.” You shook you head at the last part. 

“Hey, that’s not on you (Y/N)! You said it yourself he was distancing himself, and just from the short time I’ve known him that doesn’t really surprise me much.” Maggie put a reassuring hand on your shoulder and gave you a gentle squeeze. You smiled at her and then blushed slightly, “Can I tell you something else?” 

“Of course (Y/N).” She leaned backed, propping her elbows on her knees again, and stared at you attentively. You really took a liking to Maggie, she reminded you of your best friend from your hometown. The thought of finding another friend like that in this new world made you smile happily to yourself.

You cleared your throat awkwardly, “I’ve sort of…always, well not really always but…” Your face turned red as you felt yourself blabbing like a moron. Maggie’s eyes widened and she nodded her head up and down. encouraging you to continue. “I’ve always had this small crush on Daryl.” You mumbled, looking away, and pretending like you were just surveying the area. 

“I knew it!” Maggie squealed, your eyes found hers and she had the biggest smile on her face, “I told Glenn you guys definitely were a thing at one point, and he told me there was no way, that Daryl wasn’t the relationship type.” You huffed at the last part and shook your head.

“Well, Glenn was definitely right about that part. We never were a “thing”, Daryl doesn’t exactly like to articulate his feelings.” You rolled your eyes, “Men, am I right?”

“Pfft you can say that again. All the guys I’ve gone out with have been complete dicks, that is, before I met Glenn.” Maggie let out a dreamy sigh, “He’s so compassionate, and smart, and strong. He’s perfect.”

“You two are definitely perfect for each other, the way you two look at each other, it’s like the stuff you read in romance novels.”

“The stuff we do behind close doors is like that too.” She said coyly, causing both of you to fall into a laughing fit, it felt like you were back in high school. Gossiping and giggling like a couple of schoolgirls. 

“Maggie, you naughty dog.” You playfully pushed her shoulder and let out another laugh. 

“So, you and Daryl were seriously never an item?” Maggie asked, trying to quiet down her laughter. 

“Nope, we did kiss though, once!” You got out the last part quickly, seeing how excited she was becoming over this new detail. You told her about the night you two had snuck out with a bottle of wine, and your mind started thinking towards this evening, a hundred different scenarios playing in your head. “We never even went on a date Maggie, that is until…” You trailed off, biting your lip in fear of oversharing. 

“Until what?! Come on, you can’t leave me on cliffhanger like that!” Maggie exclaimed a little too loudly, giggling at you when you shushed her. 

“Well, I’m not really sure if you can call it a date, but Daryl asked me to take watch with him tonight. I told him I’d snag us a bottle of wine.” You tucked a piece of hair behind your ear, looking down at the ground with a stupid grin on your face. 

“That sure as hell sounds like a date to me!” Maggie stood, dusted off her pants and then offered you her hand, you gladly accepted it and she pulled you up, “Let’s head back so you can get ready for you date Miss (Y/N).” She exaggeratedly held out her elbow to you, and you rolled your eyes, looping your arm with hers. 

You two chatted and laughed all the way back to the prison, when you got back to cell block there was a noticeable tension in the air. “Everything okay?” Maggie walked over to Glenn and placed a hand on his chest. Glenn put his over hers and began whispering to her. 

“What’s going on?” You asked loudly to the group, a feeling of unease creeping into your chest, making your breathing a little more ragged. 

“We ran into some inmates hiding out in the back portion of the prison, we were trying to clear out any more walkers that may be in the tombs.” T-Dog said, you turned your gaze to him and noticed the blood that splattered different parts of his white shirt. 

“Is everyone okay? Where are they now?” You asked, going over to him to check for any injuries. He reassured you he was fine but thanked you for worrying. You were about to open your mouth to ask more questions when Daryl and Rick emerged through the gate. Both covered in blood as well. You quickly ran over to them, and grabbed onto Daryl’s arm, running your eyes up and down his body frantically, checking for any signs of harm. 

“I’m fine (Y/N).” Daryl looked down at you with a small smile and gently patted your hand, but you could see the frustration in his eyes. Daryl didn’t want to let it show, but seeing how you reacted to him, how quickly you were concerned for his safety made his heart swell. But his inner voices were telling him you would’ve done that for anyone, that’s just the type of person you were. He removed himself from your grip and went to sit down at one of the tables, resting his head between his hands.

“What the hell happened in there?” You asked, looking between the two men. 

Rick gathered everyone into the small cafeteria of the cell block, filling the group in on the inmates they had found. How they had found more rooms that were crawling with walkers, and how they had helped them clear them out. 

“So, what do we do about the inmates?” Carol asked; a visible unease was washed over her features.

“We haven’t decided what to do with them yet.” Rick sighed and shook his head, “They showed us a room back there, where the wall had started to fall down. That’s how walkers keep getting in here.” 

Murmurs started to go around the small group, comments of having to leave were thrown out. Daryl dropped his fist down on the table, causing you to jump. “We don’ need to leave. The wall can be fixed. We fought hard for this place, like hell we are leaving now!” Daryl looked over at you, you gave him a silent nod of agreement and he returned it. 

“Well where are they going to stay? Surely you aren’t thinking of letting those criminals in here with us?” Lori looked over at Rick with a hard expression, holding onto Carl. Before Rick could get a response out, T-Dog spoke up. 

“Criminals? We don’t even know what they were in here for in the first place. They helped us take out the walkers back there. Hell, they didn’t even know the state the world was in until we ran into them.” He said bitterly looking over the group. 

“They’ve just been back there the whole time?” Beth asked, it was kind of hard to believe. You thought about being in their same position, would you have left the prison if you had been locked up in here for god knows how long. 

“They told us they had been waiting to be escorted to another prison, but no one ever came for them. So, they took shelter in the main kitchen.” Rick added. 

“I mean, can you blame them?” You chimed in; the others turned their attention to you. “If you didn’t know what the hell was going on, would any of you leave? I’m sure they probably heard broadcasts or at least guards talking about the apocalypse starting. They had a way better chance of surviving in here then they did out there.” You glanced over to T-Dog who had muttered words of agreement. 

“(Y/N) makes a fair point.” Herschel stated, looking at the floor, closing his eyes with contemplation. “But that still leaves the question of where they are going to stay. T-Dog is right we don’t know what they were put in here for, but we have to think about our group first.” He opened his eyes and stared at Rick. 

“Hey. I don’t mean to interrupt y’all, but we don’t mind staying in the kitchen for a while.” Everyone turned their heads towards the gate, two prison suit clad men were standing on the other side looking in at the group. Daryl stood up and walked closer to you, standing in front of you protectively. You looked up at him and gave him a small smile at the gesture. You stood up next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, he didn’t avert his eyes from the men but gave you a small smile in return. 

“We don’t mean to be rude uh…” Carol trailed off. 

“Axel!” The squirrely ginger guy pointed to himself then proceeded to the much taller man, “and this is Oscar.” 

“Well, we don’t mean to be rude Axel. We just have to think of our group first.” Carol finished, crossing her arms over her torso, hugging herself gently.

“Not rude at all m’am.” Oscar spoked up, “Like Axel said, we don’t mind staying in the kitchen for a while. We’ve done pretty well in there so far.” He smiled gently over to Carol, who smiled a weak one back at him. 

“Do you think you guys could help us clear out some more of the blocks though? We don’t have much experience with them things.” Axel asked looking over at Rick with a dopey grin on his face. Oscar and Axel both seemed like nice guys, but you had to remind yourself there must be a reason they were arrested in the first place. You drifted your gaze over to Daryl, and inwardly flinched at your previous thought. You remember the few times Daryl had taken the fall for his brother and wound up in juvey, maybe these guys were just trying to protect someone too. 

“We’ll have to think on it as a group and come up with a plan.” Rick replied calmly. 

Axel and Oscar gave your group one last set of smiles and then made their way back through the tombs. 

The group began talking amongst themselves and you looked up to Daryl, your hand was still resting on his shoulder. You quickly removed it and he turned to you at the sudden loss of contact, “What an eventual day huh?” You tried your best to lighten the tension in the room. 

“Ya can say that again.” Daryl huffed. 

“Soooo, were you able to snag anything else to eat tonight or are you going to have suck it up and eat some beans with me?” You winked at him. 

“Girl we eatin’ more than some damn beans tonight.” He walked over to a tarp that laid on the ground and uncovered two deer. “Shot ‘em this mornin’. They were a bitch to get back here.” Daryl looked up at you staring in disbelief down at the two deer, he smirked “What no thank you?” 

You rolled your eyes at him and smirked back, “Thank you so much Mr. Dixon.” You exaggerated the last part and laughed when you saw the tips of his ears turn pink. Rick cleared his throat from behind you, “Hey Daryl you mind preparing that as we come up with a plan?” He gestured to the deer, Daryl grunted in response and started pulling the tarp over to one of the tables. “(Y/N) you too, we could really use your input on this.” You hid the pride you were feeling with a nod and made your way over to the table Daryl was at and sat down next to him. It felt good to be included in something like this, that your opinion was wanted in this discussion. You were used to other groups not valuing your input, even though you had time and again proven yourself to be a strong and capable fighter and strategist. That had been one of the biggest reasons you had preferred to go solo after a while. 

“Alright, I think its in everyone’s best interest if we help clear out the other cell blocks in the prison.” Rick started, “Clearing out the other blocks means more room to expand this place, more places to hide in, more escape routes if necessary.” He was met with a few approving nods from some of the other group members. 

“What about the inmates? Have you given any thought into where they will stay Rick?” Herschel asked not breaking his gaze from Rick’s. 

“I don’t know these men well enough to want to invite them to stay here with us in our block. Oscar seems like he could be a really good fighter, Axel seems a little…” 

“Weird.” Carl chimed in, earning him a stern look from Lori, and a few chuckles from the rest of the group. 

Rick let out his own low chuckle, “Well I was going to say squirrely. There’s another guy, the others call him ‘Big Tiny’ he didn’t say much while we were down there, but he seems strong though.” 

“Just what this group needs, another strong silent type.” Carol said, looking over at Daryl, and hiding her amused grin. Daryl was now wrists deep in deer guts, he looked up at the group looking at him, “What?” he huffed. The others fell into the laughter again, it felt nice to be able to discuss serious things like this with the others and still find humor within each other. 

“What about the other two? Andrew and Tomas?” T-Dog asked seriously, arms crossed over his chest. 

“I’m going to be honest here, I don’t really trust those two very much. Especially Tomas, the guys got a bit of an attitude.” Glenn replied, “I don’t know how I would feel about him or the others really being in here with the women and Carl.” You, Maggie, and Carl both gave him a look and he raised his hands up. “Sorry, not to say you can’t take care of yourselves, because you can. Like Rick said we don’t know these guys well enough yet.” 

“I don’ see why they can’t just stay on their side of the prison and we stay in ours. There’s no reason we should ever have to cross each other.” Daryl stated not looking up from the deer he was currently yanking intestines out of. 

“So what? We just pretend like we don’t exist to each other? That seems like it would cause tension in the long run.” Maggie added, “I mean these guys say they never left the prison, they probably can’t even fend for themselves. How long is it going to last before they run out of supplies and come knocking on our door for ours?” Maggie continued to impress you the more you heard her speak, she easily could have been a politician if the world hadn’t gone to shit. 

Rick looked over to you, you currently were biting one of your fingernails, a nasty habit you had when you were thinking hard. “(Y/N) what do you think?” You looked up from the space on the table you were currently staring holes into. The others had their full attention on you, you cleared your throat “Maggie and Daryl both make good points.” Daryl stopped his work and looked up at you, your eyes fixed on the rest of the group. You had always found a way to keep him included, make him feel heard, even if you didn’t always fully agree with his viewpoint. “We don’t know these guys, or why they were locked up to begin with, we shouldn’t pass any judgement on them until we know their stories. You guys didn’t do that with me, you welcomed me with open arms.”

“Yeah but you weren’t clad in a jumpsuit either (Y/N), and Daryl knew you.” Lori stated firmly. 

“I get that, and that’s fair. But you all couldn’t have known each other when you all met, you all had to prove yourselves to one another. Just like I’m still trying to do. Maybe we handle one task at a time here. We help them clear out the rest of the prison, help repair the damaged wall, and slowly get to know them, and they’ll get to know us in return.” You looked around at the other faces in the group, Maggie, Herschel, and T-Dog were nodding their heads in approval, all three giving you small smiles. 

“Yeah, and what if they don’ want to get to know us. They don’ want to live by our rules.” Daryl asked staring at you with a hard expression. You looked over at him trying to think of something to say but came up short. You sighed, closed your eyes, and started biting at one of your fingernails again.

“If that happens,” Rick cut in, “then we send them packing. Our group deserves this place, we fought hard for it when we got here. Lori is due any day now, we are not leaving, and we will make that very clear to them.” He finished and look around the group, eyes landing on Lori, the two exchanged soft glances to one another. 

“Sounds like a plan to me boss man!” Glenn agreed, putting his arm around Maggie’s shoulders, she then agreed with the plan as well. The other members giving words of agreement and nods of approval. 

“Great we will start first thing tomorrow then, from here on no one is to go anywhere by themselves. We are safer in numbers. Now, let’s get dinner prepared and then everyone get some rest.” Rick stood and walked over to Lori, who clearly wasn’t the happiest about the plan the group had come up with. T-Dog and Glenn started helping Daryl get the deer ready to eat. 

Once dinner was served, everyone started grabbing plates and talking amongst themselves. Daryl had already gone out to the watch tower to start his shift; you grabbed an extra plate for him and started making your way towards the cell blocks’ doors when Maggie stopped you. 

“Hey (Y/N) wait up!” She caught up to you with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “You nervous?” She smirked at you. 

“Ya know, I wasn’t until you just asked me that.” You playfully scowled at her earning a chuckle from her. 

“Well, don’t be! Glenn and I want to here ALL the details later.” She looked over her shoulder at Glenn, who was giving you a thumbs up. 

“You guys are absolutely ridiculous.” You laughed, you looked down and noticed a bag was draped over one of Maggie’s shoulders. 

“Whatcha got there Maggie?” 

“Oh! I just wanted to say thank you for today, I had a lot of fun earlier and I guess I just missed having a girl friend ya know? I obviously love these people and my family, but it’s nice to have someone my age I can vent and gossip to.” She tugged the bag off her shoulder and pulled out a bottle of wine. Your jaw dropped and you looked at her with a completely dopey expression on your face. 

“Maggie, you really didn’t need to do this.” She gave you a warm smile, then slipped the bottle back into the bag and helped put it on your shoulder. 

“Don’t mention it, now go get ‘em tiger.” She giggled and pushed you out the door. The cool night air mixed with your nerves sent shivers down your back. You took in a deep breath, “It’s just dinner with an old friend, don’t read too much into it (Y/N).” You took another breath and made your way to the watch tower, carefully make your way up the steps, not wanting to spill any of yours or Daryl’s dinner. When you got to top, you kicked on the door gently a few times, “Room service!” You called out in an exaggerated posh accent. 

Daryl opened the door for you, he smiled down at you, happily taking a plate from you, and leading you inside. There was a twin mattress placed on the floor in the corner, a small card table and two chairs were near the railing of the tower, a lantern sitting on top of it. You followed Daryl over to the table and sat down next to him. “Oh uh, ya wan’ some water?” Daryl asked slightly nervous, he leaned over and began opening a cooler. 

“Come on Dixon, you know I’m a woman of my word. You really think I wouldn’t deliver?” He sat back up and quirked an eyebrow at you. You took the bag off your shoulder and pulled out the bottle of wine, and two mugs. You’d have to thank Maggie again later for those. 

“Shit (Y/N) I didn’ think ya were serious about the wine!” Daryl said amusement written on his face, he took the bottle from you and cracked the top off it. “Where the hell did ya get this?” 

“Maggie gave it to me, as a thank you for going out with her earlier.” You figured you leave some of the more intimate details out, you took the bottle back from him and poured a generous amount into both of your mugs. 

“The two of ya really seem to have hit it off. Watch out, ya might start makin’ Glenn jealous.” Daryl chuckled as he watched you pour the wine, licking his bottom lip. 

“I like her a lot, and the others. I still can’t believe I’m here with you all.” You set the bottle down between you and smiled at him before raising your mug up in the air, “A toast if you don’t mind good sir!” 

Daryl rolled his eyes and held his own up, “What we toastin’ to dork?” He gently pumped his shoulder with yours. 

“To our reunion of course! And to new beginnings, cheers Dixon!” You both happily clinked your glasses together before taking long sips. “Wowie, that’s been aging a while.” You choked out, before drinking a little more, loving how the liquid instantly started warming up your stomach. 

You both fell into a comfortable silence as you ate your dinners, looking out over the field for any signs of danger. Daryl looked at you through the corner of his eye, watching you happily eat your meal, the light breeze blowing strands of your hair away from your face. The moonlight highlighting your features, you looked beautiful, just as you did back in high school. 

“You’re staring Dixon.” You smirked not looking up from your now almost clean plate. 

Daryl cleared his throat and grunted, turning his attention back to his own plate. “Sorry, just still can’t believe ya really here I guess.” 

You turned in your chair so you could look at him fully, grabbing your mug and taking another long sip from it before replying, “I can’t believe you’re really here either Daryl. I thought I’d never see you again, I thought I’d never seen anyone I knew again honestly.” You said quietly, watching as he set his plate down and turned to face you. 

“Where have ya been this whole time? Thought ya were off at college when all of this started.” You saw a slight hint of sadness in his eyes as he mentioned your school. 

“We were all sent home when the first hint of this illness had been leaked to the media. By the time I got home, everything was already starting to go to shit. I watched my neighbors start tearing each other a part, I thought maybe people had just started losing their minds at first. But then dad hurried me inside and we hunkered down for a few days, we had the TV on the whole time, one of us was always watching it or we were keeping watch on the neighborhood.” You closed your eyes and sighed, turning your gaze out to the field again, you took another sip of your wine, letting it calm your building emotions. 

Daryl watched you intently, listening to every word that left your now wine stained lips, he couldn’t stop staring at them. He quickly snapped his attention back to you when you started to speak again, “Then the power went out, and we knew we needed to get moving, the last thing we had heard on the news was that any survivors should make their way to Atlanta. The city was safe the broadcast kept saying.” You and Daryl both scoffed at that. 

“We all heard the same thing. Load of bullshit that was.” Daryl grumbled, picking up his mug and taking a log swig from it. 

“Yeah no kidding.” You continued, and then looked down at your cup sadly. “I’m not sure if you remember when my dad first got cancer or not, but it was getting worse, especially without his treatment and his medicine supply was already running low.” Daryl watched as you tried to hold yourself together, without thinking he placed his hand on your knee, causing you to flinch slightly. He was about to pull his hand away, when you covered it with your own, lightly rubbing circles with your thumb. Daryl was instantly warming up, both from the wine and your return of affection, he gripped your knee gently and began rubbing his own circles over it. 

“We met up with a few other people along the way, one of them was a doctor. He tried his best to keep pops comfortable. He told us once we made it to the CDC, they would be able to help him more. But, when we got to the city, it was already overrun.” You continued retelling Daryl about your group, and the growing tension between everyone, “Then one night a couple of our group members had had enough. Fights started breaking out. Those fights started escalating quickly, people just started killing other people without any remorse. One of the guys in the group pulled a knife on my dad, said he was going to die anyways. Dr. Harrison had put himself in front of us to protect us and he got himself killed in the process.” Your grip tightened on Daryl’s hand as you held back the tears that were starting to form in your eyes.

“You don’ have to talk about it anymore if you don’t wanna.” Daryl said gently, wishing more than anything he had been there for you through all of this. 

“No, it’s okay, I haven’t talked about it with anyone since it happened.” You looked up to him and gave him a weak smile. You took a deep breath and looked off into the distance, “When I saw that Dr. Harrison was gone, something snapped in me. I grabbed his gun and killed the last two people who had caused the fighting in the first place. Dad had gotten hurt during the fight, someone had stabbed him, I tried to do anything I could think of to help. But he wasn’t going to make it, he was already so weak. He told me to stay with him, and when the time came to it, to kill him. He said he didn’t want to turn into one of those things.” A few tears started falling, and you quickly wiped them away. “He told me he was sorry so many times for making me do it, but he didn’t have the strength to do it himself. We talked for a few hours after that, he told me to not let this world change me, and that he knew I would be able to beat it one day. Then he finally started to slip away, and I did it.” You couldn’t stop the tears from falling this time, and you didn’t try to either.  
Daryl felt tears coming to his own eyes, but quickly pushed them down, knowing you needed someone to be strong for you in that moment. He removed his hand from your clutches, and you looked up at him with disappointment in your already sad puffy eyes. 

He wrapped his arm around your shoulders and scooted his chair closer to you. You leaned into his touch immediately and laid your head on his shoulder. “Ya know we went to your house before we left town.” You let out a small, sad laugh. 

Daryl looked down at you as he met your gaze, “It was pops’ idea initially, he said if there was anyone that could protect us it was you. Pops always liked you Dixon.” You looked up at him and smiled, his breathing hitched as he watched your gaze linger down to his lips. You weren’t sure if it was the emotional moment you just shared, the liquid courage flowing through your veins, or the years of stored sexual frustration but your next words left your mouth before you could even register them, “He wasn’t the only one either.” 

That was all it took for Daryl, he reached his hand up to cup your face, searching your slightly red eyes for any hint that you weren’t feeling exactly what he was feeling. He leaned down and pressed his lips timidly to yours, you melted into him and kissed him back. You tilted your head to the side, giving him more access, and Daryl happily obliged. He ran his tongue along your bottom lip, begging for you to grant him entrance. You moaned slightly, eagerly letting his muscle explore your mouth. He brought his hand up behind your head and deepened the kiss, swirling his tongue with yours. The taste of wine on his breath was intoxicating. You brought your hands up to his vest and pulled him closer, wanting to fuse completely with him. Daryl moaned at this and you took the opportunity to lightly bite his bottom lip. He chuckled and pulled away, much to your dismay.

He rested his slightly sweaty forehead on your own and smiled a full smile at you, “Am I going to have to get you wine every time I want to kiss you?” 

You let out a chuckle, “So you do remember that night?” 

Daryl pulled away to look at you fully, “Course I remember that night, how could I forget one of the best nights of my life. This one is quickly becoming a close second though.” He wiggled his eyebrows at you, causing you to giggle and snuggle closer to him. He kissed the top of you head and sighed with content. 

“To answer your question, yes, you do have to get me wine any time you want to kiss me.” You kissed the exposed skin on his chest, and he shuddered, causing another set of giggles to erupt from you. 

He placed a hand under your chin and lifted it so you were looking at him, “Well in that case,” he reached for the bottle of wine and refilled both of your mugs, “Ya better drink up buttercup.” He winked setting the bottle down and kissed you again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, so I am so sorry for the delay, I do have some chapters lined up and almost ready to go, I got incredibly sick over the weekend. I was tested for Covid today, so I will try to get them to you as soon as I can. Send good thoughts and vibes my way if you wouldn't mind! <3


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